A bill introduced July 30
in the U.S. House of Representatives could help transform America’s
transportation policy and investment by directing federal investment to
freight system projects that update the freight system and help reduce
freight’s environmental and health impacts, according to an environmental advocay group.
The Chicago South Shore
& South Bend Railroad said that Henry Lampe, president and CEO, would
retire at the end of October 2010. Succeeding him will be Andrew Fox, managing
director of Pacific Harbor Line and former PHL president since 1997.
U.S. Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood said $727,000 would be coming for the State of New York to
continue work on its high-speed rail program with the rehabilitation of the
Buffalo-Depew railroad station. The Department of Transportation has provided
New York $1.7 million of the $151 million awarded under the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for high-speed rail.
A 20-year transportation
proposal to renovate more than 500 miles of passenger rail throughout New
England is anticipated to increase speed between stations while unclogging some
of the region’s congested highways, the Brattleboro, Vt., Reformer reports. The
ambitious project, running through Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont, is
designed to improve connection times and spark economic growth throughout the
Northeast.
BNSF wants to create a
wind energy hub in the Big Pasco Industrial Center, the Tri City Herald reports.
The railroad company, which operates one of North America’s largest rail
networks, with about 32,000 route miles in 28 states and two Canadian
provinces, recently proposed setting up a transload facility on Port of Pasco
land. The idea is to haul wind
turbine components by rail from production sites and deliver them to Pasco for
loading onto trucks for shipment to wind farm sites within 150 miles.
Wiscasset Raceway can
have Oxxfest 2010. Brunswick will host its own celebration of heavy metal on August
2, the Brunswick Times Record reports. Real heavy metal. Very heavy metal.
The rehabilitation of the
Chester Branch Railroad, a four-mile
rail line extending from Wharton, N.J., and ending in Roxbury, N.J., is under
way and should be completed within four to five months, county officials said,
according to the Daily Record. The county Board of Freeholders in April awarded
a $5.1-million contract to the firm Railroad Construction Co. Inc., of Paterson
to rehabilitate the rail line, with the money coming from the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act, part of the economic stimulus package.
Virginia and CSX
Transportation have reached an agreement about how to proceed with federal
stimulus spending on a new high-speed rail line between Washington and Richmond,
the Washington Post reports. A framework agreement over the $75-million project
has now been submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
L.B. Foster Company said
that it is extending its previously announced cash tender offer, through its
wholly-owned subsidiary Foster Thomas Company, for all outstanding shares of
common stock of Portec Rail Products, Inc., until 12:00 midnight, New York City
time, on August 16, 2010. The tender offer was previously set to expire at midnight,
New York City Time on July 30, 2010.
Vossloh has won two major
contracts worth together around 115 million euros ($115.6 million) in
connection with the construction of Libya’s new rail network. On behalf of
general contractor China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, Vossloh
will equip around 1,300 km (806 miles) of the planned network with its fastening
systems and switches. Deliveries will extend from 2010 to 2012.
By the end of the last
millennium, Metro Moncton, New Brunswick, residents couldn’t wait for the day –
and they were certain that it was coming soon – that the CN rail line that
bisects the downtown would be moved to the city’s outskirts, the Times & Transcript
reports. Since then, nary a word.
Friday, July 30 to Monday,
Aug. 2, from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. each day, crews will relocate utilities and
continue construction on a shoofly at the Santa Clara, Calif., station. The
shoofly is a temporary track for trains to use during the renovation of the
station.
In conjunction with
standing 42 x 42 AutoLOKTM II U.S. patents and Mexico patents, the Canadian
Patent Office has recently awarded Miner a patent on their 42 x 42 AutoLOK II
outlet gate.
Earlier in July, Norfolk
Southern’s maintenance of way and structures department completed $21 million
in track, signal and bridge work in seven days on one if its primary coal lines
in southwestern Pennsylvania. The Mon Line extends approximately 85 miles from
Pittsburgh to coal mines in Washington and Greene counties. In 2009, almost 42
million tons of coal was transported over this rail line. Approximately 20
trains daily use the Mon Line.
The NEW METRO in Houston has
received good news in the form of a federal Record of Decision on the
University light-rail line, signifying final approval of the environmental
review process on this 11.3-mile project. With this approval, METRO will
continue to evolve the design, engineering, utility coordination,
pre-construction planning work and ongoing FTA coordination needed to go
forward while renewing community outreach efforts to make sure the public
continues to be engaged in this historic project.
Maryland’s congressional
delegation is scheduled to meet July 30 with the chairwoman of the National
Transportation Safety Board, which issued a scathing report this week on an
"anemic safety culture" that contributed to last year’s deadly Metro
crash, the Gaithersburg, Md., Gazette reports. NTSB Chairwoman Deborah A.P.
Hersman recommended the federal government provide oversight for public transit
systems the way it does for railroad systems through the Federal Railroad Administration.
Trains are scheduled to
begin rolling into Union Pacific’s new intermodal yard in Joliet, Ill., next
week, the Herald News reports. The Union Pacific facility is the anchor
operation for CenterPoint Intermodal Center-Joliet, a 4,000-acre industrial
park under development on the south end of the city.
Residents on Ravenswood
Avenue on Chicago’s North Side were so upset by the idea of a Metra station
closer to their homes that they complained to officials, circulated a petition,
formed an association and hired an attorney, the Chicago Tribune reports. Their
efforts seem to have worked.
Secretary Ray LaHood’s made
his first visit to his research and testing facility on July 28, 2010. FRA
Associate Administrator for Safety Jo Strang, AAR President & CEO Ed
Hamberger and TTCI President Roy Allen quickly welcomed the Secretary to the
site with a brief history lesson and an update on various safety related research
and testing programs performed under interagency agreement.
July 30-August 1,m
Washington, D.C., Metro will make upgrades to its track, platforms and bridges
on the Red, Blue, Yellow and Orange lines to improve reliability and service.
As a result of this crucial work aimed at keeping the railroad in a state of
good repair, riders can expect delays of up to 30 minutes.
